While the North American renewable energy sector has been hit hard in recent years by some of the most destructive Natural Catastrophe and Extreme Weather events in living memory, we hesitate to call this trend ‘unprecedented’.

Our industry market insights report Hail or High Water, published in 2020, summarised much of what the industry has come to acknowledge as an unfortunate truth – Nat Cat and Extreme Weather events are on the rise.

What is unprecedented is the scale of recent damages, and the anticipated size of these claims. Despite awareness of this trend, large-scale losses such as we have seen this Summer still seem to be taking the industry by surprise, with widespread damages and vastly exceeded sub-limits a common feature of emerging Nat Cat and Extreme Weather claims.

In these circumstances it is highly pertinent to revisit and update the conclusions that our Hail or High Water report drew back in 2020, and assess what further action is needed to tackle the threat Nat Cat and Extreme Weather continues to pose to North American asset owners.

In this report we outline five key findings that must be acted upon to ensure the ongoing resilience of US renewables – and the stability of its insurance market.